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Satire unwelcome here.

Kim Hollis: Why is satire such a hard sell, while stuff like Date Movie, Meet the Spartans and various other Movie Movies seem to earn consistent amounts with each opening? Even as a satire, shouldn't a movie that stars Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black have been primed for more?

Max Braden: A comedy like this that is heavy on the action should appeal to the Rush Hour audience even if it is satire. It could be that Pineapple Express took some of its audience, but I do think the lateness in the season affects it too.

Shane Jenkins: The general public really hates "insider" movies about Hollywood, almost as much as Hollywood loves making them. I thought Tropic Thunder could buck this trend, but apparently not. I think an interesting thesis could be written on the subject.

David Mumpower: I think Shane makes a strong point, but I am a bit demoralized by this turn of events. We had debated war movie oversaturation a while ago in MMQB. I also feel that's a factor here. A lot of people didn't want to see Hollywood lampoon any kind of war effort, which is unfortunate since the people skewered the most here are Hollywooders themselves. Robert Downey Jr.'s performance is the stuff of myth and legend.

Jerry Simpson: I disagree, I'd suggest that the Tropic opening is due more to the date than anything else. When it was planned to release on the Love Guru date, it would have made a lot more.

David Mumpower: The same used to be said of any August release date. It's almost never the day a title is released but instead the marketing of the title that determines its success.





Max Braden: Backlash against the marketing may have been a factor. Audiences may have been turned off by the black face and "retard" complaint at the last minute.

Sean Collier: There's an unfortunate cultural development unwinding in America, and it is this: many people believe that they're not supposed to laugh and think at the same time. Despite the best efforts of shows like The Office and 30 Rock and smart films like Little Miss Sunshine and Knocked Up, many people prefer their comedy broad, physical, and decidedly low-brow. Who or what to blame for this, I don't know (maybe Carlos Mencia,) but comedy with a brain and a heart may have to fly under the radar for a while.

Brandon Scott: Satire is often too high concept in many ways for the mainstream. Jay-Z said he had to "dumb it down for his audience to double his dollars," and the same is sadly often true for the movie-going public. People don't want to think when watching their comedies. It's often hard for an audience to differentiate between a movie that is stupid for stupid's sake or just plain stupid.

Daron Aldridge: For satire vs. spoof, all we need to do is refer to the prophetic wisdom of The Simpsons at the Springfield Film Festival..."Man getting hit in the crotch with football." If you need further proof, consider the 18 seasons of America's Funniest Home Videos. America simply prefers slapstick and banal sight gags to satire.

Jason Lee: SATIRE is a hard sell because it demands intelligence. The assorted (Insert Film Genre Name Here) Movies have succeeded because they have no such IQ prerequisite.

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